My (PoTD) party : a good and effective way to win

[Masterteo89]

First of all, know that there are tons of people that play these kind of games way better than me.

In no way i'm trying to boast.

 

 

 

I'm here only to show you what i do and why i do it. ( Having in mind that i am not playing easy, i'm playing path of the damned).

 

And if you tell me what you think of this, i would be glad. You know, sharing advices.

 

FINAL NOTE : i have WM1 and 2 installed, but purposedly i'm only doing the main story and side quests. Now as now, i have have to do only :

 

1- kill undead Raedric.  2- win the last 3 hunts in the huntsman hut. 3- do Cad Nua's endless path.  4- Kill Talos.

 

 

 

So, this is why i say my party is effective : if i've reached almost the end, without problems, in the highest difficulty... my party should be not so bad, isn't it?

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

As you can see, this is my main pg.  I've made a strange kind of monk.

 

She is not strong ( see her strength stat, only 11 ).

 

But see her other stats.

 

Good attack speed. Very high accuracy. 54 stopping power. 280 hp at only level 12 of  a max of 16 levels. High damage reductions + her talent that reduce more damage for each wound point gained.

 

 

And this belt. This belt is awesome because probably it exploit a bug of the game.

 

In short, it casts the druid spell that raise damage reduction of +6. The spell is area of effect arund the wearer, can be cast 2 times in each fight, and the belt cast it when my pg suffer a critical hit.

 

Critical hit include also spells, so most of the times when a fight start...when a enemy cast a AoE spell that hit my pg, chances are that the enemy buffs my party.

 

Also, my armour has 0 damage reduction for fire and frost damage. But this belt gives a +5 to the DR of fire and frost. As a result, my pc gains a fire and frost DR equal to my armour DR + 5.

 

 

 

 

 

In short, this belt auto-buffs my party DR for 2 times each fight + it gives my pg 20 cold and fire DR.

 

Nice, isn't it?

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

So, my monk excels at stopping enemy attacks, kicking enemy away, and tanking ( high HP and high DR, she absorbs a lot of damage).

 

She is like an annoying bee, in short. And she has veteran's recovery too.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Add Palegina.

 

 

Look at her Hp, Damage reductions and deflection(112).

 

Add that she has the special attack that makes nearby allyes faster for a short time + revive 1 ally talent + the talent that increase attack speed of someone of 20%.

 

As you can see, she is my main tank. She can survive most kind of situations very well. Also, she has veteran's recovery too.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Eder...i use him as a tank, but he is mostly useless. Useful only to have a 3rd tank in the party...

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Aloth.

 

I love this guy. I usually summon the 3 tentacles in the front line and then...i spam spells that give status effects or reduce attributes. He is not a damage dealer, he is built only to debilitate.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Durance. He buffs my party and debilitate enemyes with Aloth.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hiravias. A must have.

 

I start a fight with him casting the storm spell that hit all the enemyes for 18 sec. with thunders and stun them.

 

Then he cast the spell that deals damage and turn to stone.

 

Then some more spells.

 

Then i bring him near the enemyes spellcasters and morph him in beast form. Easy way to kill mages.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

My party. Durance and Aloth have their default armour.

[Boeroer]

Ok - so, what exactly do you do with those?

[Masterteo89]

I start the battle with Durance casting interdiction ( upgraded at max, with both status effects and higher chance to hit the monsters )

 

In the mean time Aloth casts the 3 tentacles in the zone where i think both front lines will clash. This way, my front line will have 6 fighters(monk, palegina, eder + 3 tentacles) instead of only 3 fighters (monk, palegina, eder)

 

Hiravias casts the storm spell that hit all the enemyes for 18 sec. with thunders and stun them. After that i move him near the front line. And i use him to cast damage dealing spells.

 

 

 

Front line : Eder and my monk goes first.

When they start fighting, i move Palegina near them and she do her special attacks that increase allyes attack speed ( meaning that my monk, Eder and some tentacles get faster).

 

While they fight, Aloth keep casting spells that give status effects or reduce attributes. Durance instead buffs my party mostly.

 

Hiravias keep being kept behind the front line, because each 18 sec the thunder spell ends and he has to cast it again.

 

 

 

During the fight i move my monk to kick away enemyes that try to attack my casters. Or simply i kick away enemyes that i see are trying to cast spells / special attacks. I keep her with more or less 5 wound points to have the + 5 damage reduction bonus.

 

Most times i try to isolate the enemy casters, so that i can bring Hiravias to them, morph him in beast form and kill them.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

So, we can say that my strategy has 4 points.

 

1- Build the front line : 3 tanks + tentacles + some summons from items

 

2- Protect the 3 casters ( Hiravias, Durance, Aloth) , because their role to debilitate enemyes and buff my front line is fundamental.

 

3- Weaken the monsters with the casters. Be it using damage dealing spells or, mostly, with status effects or reducing their attributes.

 

4- Control my monk to manage the flow of the battle. As i described before in detail.

[Climhazzard]

I use that party setup but I like to have Kana as my 3rd melee instead of Eder.  Toss on some heavy plate armor, a shield, hold the line, shield specialization, and he's a tank, but he can sit there melting enemies with his fire aura, make your healing awesome with his mercy aura, or summon ogres to smash your enemies.

 

Also if you like items that proc on crit received for your monk you should consider the shod in faith boots if you can still get them.   Very good healing for your monk and surrounding allies.

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Shod-in-Faith

Edited July 28, 2016 by Climhazzard

[Masterteo89]

I use that party setup but I like to have Kana as my 3rd melee instead of Eder.  Toss on some heavy plate armor, a shield, hold the line, shield specialization, and he's a tank, but he can sit there melting enemies with his fire aura, make your healing awesome with his mercy aura, or summon ogres to smash your enemies.

 

Also if you like items that proc on crit received for your monk you should consider the shod in faith boots if you can still get them.   Very good healing for your monk and surrounding allies.

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Shod-in-Faith

 

I used Kana in my last gameplay ( almost 1 year ago) , but i discovered that i don't like him and chanter class in general. I know that it's unusual, the fans of this game almost worship chanters...but i find them gamebreaking.

 

Chanters makes the game too easy, and i like instead to struggle a bit.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

I have those boots, but i can't use them. I already gave items to my mnk aimed to make her how it is. For example :

 

rings are 1 to boost deflection (  +9 ) and the other 1 gives her second chance (if she faint, she gets up with 30 hp).

 

My Boots gives her + 15 hp. 15 hp with a monk like her that absorbs a lot of damage, means that she can take 1-2 extra hits before ko. Allowing me more time to heal her and such.

[Boeroer]

Hehe - I find it funny that your title says "effective way to win" - and then you don't use chanters because they are too effective.

 

Force of Anguish is nice, that's true. And very effective.

 

Using +15 endurance boots instead of Shod in Faith is not the most effective way either. The +15 don't get influenced by MIG or INT or healing-received bonuses or whatever. +15 is also like nothing on higher levels. One point of CON would give you way more than +15. Shod in Faith on the other hand will give you a lot more endurance - usually between 10 to 15 per pulse while pulsing over a long time if you have a bit of MIG and some healing-received bonus from camping and/or an item.

 

Do I see it right that you don't use Torment's Reach? I mean you can play monk like that, but either it's a build for a special purpose (more focused on single targets) or you're gimping his performance - especially because you are dual wielding. Torment's Reach is a Full Attack with a huge AoE. But if you're happy with his performance that's great. Everybody plays this game differently and there are lots of ways to be successful.

[Masterteo89]

Hehe - I find it funny that your title says "effective way to win" - and then you don't use chanters because they are too effective.

 

i want at least a bit of a challenge  

Plus, i don't like chanters.

 

Yes, i don't use Torment Reach.

 

Yes, it's a build for special purposes : she use Force of Anguish to isolate an annoying or menacing target. Then she run at him, and with a stopping power of 54 (and great damage reduction) she figt with him, effectively cutting him off from the battle. So he won't bother my ally in the main battlefield.

 

If my ally gets surrounded, she stop targeting him and instead i Force of Anguish the monsters surrounding my allyes. Same thing if a monster reach one of my casters.

 

My monk's purpose is to lighten the weight on my allyes's shoulders ( and she is also able to kill a monster in 1 vs 1. She's no weakling).

 

As you see, she keep running around the battlefield, that's why i say that my build is focused on micromanaging.

 

She is build to be very effective with a party, it's not a build meant to play alone. 

[Boeroer]

Yeah, that can be fun. Then you don't need Torment's Reach. Force of Anguish is nice when you have very fast attacks (lets you put down a lot of foes in quick seccession) and also a lot of wounds so you can keep using it.

 

I once made a special monk build for this when patch 2.0 was out. Look for "Fulmineo Prondroni" in the build index.

 

I guess you also have The Long Stride and/or an item which speeds up your movement? Because Force of Anguish gets really powerful if you can run very fast and reach foes quickly. And I also would favor Boots of Speed over Shod in Faith with a monk who is focused on Force of Anguish.

 

A very good alternative (or even addition) to fast running is to use The Long Pain (ranged fists) - because Force of Anguish works with them. So you don't even have to run towards enemies to knock them prone or to follow them to finish them off. You can protect your teammates while standing in the center of the battle. Look at my Witch Doctor build when you anre interested how th Long Pain works. That abilitiy is awesome for a disabler monk.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Boeroer

[Masterteo89]

Yeah, that can be fun. Then you don't need Torment's Reach. Force of Anguish is nice when you have very fast attacks (lets you put down a lot of foes in quick seccession) and also a lot of wounds so you can keep using it.

 

I once made a special monk build for this when patch 2.0 was out. Look for "Fulmineo Prondroni" in the build index.

 

I guess you also have The Long Stride and/or an item which speeds up your movement? Because Force of Anguish gets really powerful if you can run very fast and reach foes quickly. And I also would favor Boots of Speed over Shod in Faith with a monk who is focused on Force of Anguish.

 

A very good alternative (or even addition) to fast running is to use The Long Pain (ranged fists) - because Force of Anguish works with them. So you don't even have to run towards enemies to knock them prone or to follow them to finish them off. You can protect your teammates while standing in the center of the battle. Look at my Witch Doctor build when you anre interested how th Long Pain works. That abilitiy is awesome for a disabler monk.

 

No, i don't have Long Stride or items to speed up movements, because overall my party is strong enough that it can manage to loose the time needed for my monk to run around the battle at normal speed.

 

Btw, strangely enough my party gets more interesting when things go bad. I don't know how much time i somehow got " stronger " when i had in the battlefield only Palegina and my monk alive.

 

They work very well, Palegina somehow can survive even if 3 monsters fight against her. And with only my monk on the battlefield, i'm more able to focus on controlling her. 

 

I call this my " core " party, because it shows that my strongest characters are the monk and Palegina.

 

 

I don't use Long Pain because i like my monk to fight in close combat. That skill is very interesting, but is a ranged one.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

What i love of my monk is that she has a " thorn " effect on her :

 

1- (it's called Deep Pain? ) each time a enemy gives me a wound, she does 10-15 damage in a AoE

 

2- Being a fire godlike, when her hp goes under 50% ( that for me is 140 hp) each time that a enemy hit me she deals to him 25 fire damage.

 

So, the more she loose life, the more she gets stronger. ( Remember that DR base is 15, and it increase for each wound recived. And under 50% hp, she gains another +4 DR. And her belt gives her a +6 DR if hit by a critical hit. )

 

In the end, she can absorb 40 fire cold lightning damage and 35-36 melee kind of damage deal by normal weapons. (not crushing weapons, her weak point)

Edited July 29, 2016 by Masterteo89

[Boeroer]

Ok,

did you take Turning Wheel? It works with Battleforged retaliation, adding a fire lash to it up to +50%. Both work with Scion of Flame, boosting the retaliation damage even further. I did a monk build on that as well which can solo even PotD WM bounties. Look for "Monksterlasher" in the build index if you are interested in the mechanics of Battle forged+Turning Wheel+Scion of Flame.